


Angels and Icicles

by Lollysunshine114



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Ice Skating, Literal Sleeping Together, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:20:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27942152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lollysunshine114/pseuds/Lollysunshine114
Summary: Malcolm and Dani go ice skating together.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	Angels and Icicles

Malcolm had slept fitfully that night, as he often did. His nightmare subsided to the sound of Sunshine trilling along to Vivaldi’s _Winter_ as the music played through his stereo alarm clock. The sharp notes floated across the room, cutting through the dark haze in his mind as he blinked his eyes open. He sat up in bed, catching the pale sunlight of an early December morning filtering through the window. Reaching to his face, Malcolm rubbed the sleep from his eyes and flicked the release on his wrist restraints in a fluid motion. He swiveled off the side of his bed and crossed to the stereo, cutting off Vivaldi with the push of a button. Sunshine gave a loud and accusatory chirp. 

“Good morning to you too,” Malcolm chuckled quietly, brushing away messy strands of hair from his face as he regarded his precious parakeet. He unlocked the door of the birdcage, letting Sunshine fly around his apartment as he quickly filled her food and water dishes. Malcolm felt her land on his shoulder. He turned his head and smiled at her, letting her stay perched there as he made his way to the kitchen. 

No sooner had he begun to make coffee for himself when he heard the shrill vibration of his phone ringing from across the apartment. Malcolm strode past the kitchen briskly – startling Sunshine off his shoulder – to where he’d left his phone on his bedside table. He plucked it off its charger and answered the call.

“Hello?” His voice came out much more strained than he had anticipated. 

A warm, steady voice responded. “Bright?” 

Malcolm felt a smooth sense of calm wash over him, one he hadn’t quite realized he’d been needing. “Oh, hey, Dani. Morning!”

Dani responded in that calm yet critical voice that Malcolm had grown to love. “You good? Still feeling up for tonight, I hope.” 

Malcolm picked up right where she had left off, nodding vigorously, though it made no difference over the phone. “Tonight! Yes, definitely!” 

Suspicion crept into Dani’s voice. “You didn’t forget, did you?”

Malcolm was quick to reassure her, a hint of panic writhing its way into his mind. “No, no of course not. My mother wouldn’t let me forget even if I wanted to–” 

There was a beat of silence. Malcolm was painfully aware of his own footsteps against the hardwood floor as he paced restlessly across his apartment. 

“–Which I don’t! Want to forget, that is. About tonight.” 

A soft chuckle could be heard from Dani. “Of course. Don’t seem so worried. I know you, Bright. I know you wouldn’t have forgotten.” 

Malcolm released a breath, feeling tension drop from his body that he hadn’t quite noticed he’d been holding onto. Dani spoke again. “I’ve gotta go now okay. I’ll see you tonight, Central Park at 5. Got it?”

“Got it.”

A soft beep and Dani had hung up. Malcolm caught his reflection in the window, a soft wistful smile on his face. He set his phone down on the nearest surface, the table in his living room. As he did, he caught the sound of a familiar rustling in the air. The soft flapping of wings ceased as Sunshine perched herself atop his head. Malcolm went still, casting his icy eyes upward to watch her in fascination. The budgie chirped softly in contentment. 

“Right, now we just have to find something to occupy us until 5,” Malcolm spoke – more to himself than to the bird. Birds didn’t have to worry about severe, ptsd-induced hallucinations. Or at least, he was pretty sure they didn’t. Sunshine flew off his head and back into her cage, perfectly content to play with the copious amount of toys Malcolm provided for her. He was left standing alone again, watching her as he pondered what to do with himself. 

One yoga session, two attempts at eating lunch, three calls from his mother, and four episodes of a shitty sitcom later, and it was finally five o’clock. Malcolm stood facing himself in the floor length mirror, nerves strung tight as a bowstring and hands shaking as he loosely brushed back his hair. He had changed from the plain and loose fitting exercise clothes he’d worn during his day at home. The man in the mirror wore charcoal trousers and a soft grey knit sweater under a wool overcoat so deep blue it nearly looked black. 

Feeling finally satisfied with his look after countless amounts of fiddling and readjustments, Malcolm headed for the door. He picked up a nondescript tote bag from where he’d set it at his door, and slung it over his shoulder before saying goodbye to Sunshine and leaving the apartment. 

The bite of the evening air pleasantly stung his face as he began the short walk to where he would meet Dani at Central Park. The sun had already set with the growing darkness of winter days, and Malcolm was illuminated only by the familiar fluorescent orange of streetlamps, their beams reflecting off the soft dusting of snow that paved the ground. Unable to tell if the shiver running through his fingertips was from his subconscious or the cold, he slipped on a thin pair of gloves from his coat pocket. 

Soon enough, he’d crossed into the park itself, and could hear soft laughter and the scrape of ice coming from his destination, which he could see illuminated in the distance. Gentle flurries began to fall as Malcolm approached the ice rink. He came to the boarded edge of the rink, and his smile only widened as Dani came sliding towards him, stopping abruptly before the barrier with a skid of her polished skates. “Bright!”

Malcolm took all of her in. Clad in her usual leather jacket, and with a fuzzy hat that perfectly framed her ebony curls like a pom-pom halo, Malcolm thought her an angel. A few perfectly placed snowflakes rested in her hair. He resisted the urge to brush them away. He blinked himself out of his thoughts and swallowed thickly. “Dani, hi.”

Dani reached over and gave him a playful shoulder shove. “Don‘t just stand there, get your skates on and come join me.” 

“Right,” Malcolm nodded quickly. By the time he looked up, Dani had already taken off on another lap around the rink. He halfheartedly chuckled and sat himself down on a nearby bench to put on his skates. Thought dull from years of disuse, he found they still fit him fine. He tucked his belongings under the bench and stood up, using the rink barrier to find his balance. 

Malcolm carefully made his way around to the nearest door in the barrier and stepped out onto the ice. He took a moment to find his footing, still holding on with one hand for stability as his skate blades slipped across the ice of their own accord. 

A whoosh of cool air to his left and Dani was at his side again. “Need some help?”

Malcolm shook his head and held one hand out, tentatively shifting away from the barrier. “I’m alright, just haven’t been skating in a long time.”

Dani seemed mildly surprised. “Really?”

“Last time I remember going skating, it was when my mother wanted to ‘do something fun as a family for the holidays’ with Ainsley and I. Suffice to say, it’s been a while,” Malcolm shrugged, slowly beginning to find a rhythm at which to glide across the ice. 

Dani kept pace with him, not seeming bothered to be going so slow as the few other skaters on the ice did laps around them. “Well, hopefully tonight can be fun.”

Malcolm smiled fondly. They skated a few laps around the rink, staying close to each other and making idle conversation. Malcolm didn’t mind the intermittent quiet, and seemed perfectly happy just to listen to the calm music filled with a vague sense of holiday cheer playing from grainy speakers around the rink. He hummed softly to the music, gazing affectionately at Dani off to his side. He smiled as she blinked away snowflakes from her dark lashes. 

“This is nice,” he spoke after a while. 

“Yeah, it is,” Dani nodded, turning in front of him and skating backwards so that they were face to face. 

They skated a few more laps face to face before slowing to a stop near one of the speakers. Malcolm paused, pointing up to the speaker, music coming in louder at such close proximity. “Hear that? It’s the sugar plum _pas de deux,_ from the Nutcracker.”

Dani offered a smile. “Huh, I wouldn’t know.”

“Care to dance?” Malcolm bowed his head to her and offered a gloved hand. 

She chuckled. “If you insist, but don’t expect me to catch you if you fall on your ass.” 

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Taking Malcolm’s hand in her own, Dani led him further towards the centre of the rink, away from the people around them doing laps around the edges. 

Malcolm let his skates slide freely, bringing himself closer to her once confident he would not fall. He looked Dani in her chocolate eyes and he knew that his face had gone pink from more than just the cold. 

Dani reached out and took his other hand. “Allow me.” 

She skated backwards, guiding Malcolm with her in a wide arc. Malcolm skated close to her, as close as he could without toppling them both over. Snowflakes fell on them both as they moved together around the rink, catching the floodlights’ glare and sparkling like their own personal spotlight. Malcolm felt the soft music notes pirouette through his head, and for once his mind was empty, consumed only with the snow and the ice and the dance and _Dani_. Her soft laughter mingling with the music, cheeks ever so rosy on her grinning face. To have nothing more than that moment forever ingrained in his memory was all Malcolm could wish for. 

The music reached its final swell, and Dani slowed to a stop, pulling Malcolm with her. Only managing to stop himself mere inches from Dani, he heaved a breath of exhilaration. Dani dropped her hands from his, reaching up to gently rest her arms around his shoulders. Malcolm froze momentarily before doing the same, bringing his hands to cup her face. 

He spoke, seeing his own breath in the frigid air, barely above a whisper. “Dani…” 

Dani simply nodded, a slow tilt of her head giving Malcolm all the confirmation he needed. 

He closed the gap between them, meeting her soft lips with his own. The world dropped away. There was nothing and no one between them but the music and the heat of their own breath mingling together. It was a crescendo, every note and every move and every swirling thought in Malcolm’s head consummated in one fleeting moment that he wished to live in forever. He kissed her with a lifetime’s worth of yearning, and only after what felt like a lifetime did they pull away from each other, hot faced and with eyes blown wide as the moon above. 

Piece by piece the world fell back into place as Malcolm and Dani untwined their arms from one another. Dani gently took his hand once more, and in silent agreement, led them both off the ice. 

Hours later, Malcolm gazed lovingly up at Dani from where they lay together on his bed, enveloped in the expanse of his weighted blanket and sipping the remnants out of a mug of hot chocolate. 

“This is nice,” he hummed, leaning over to set the now empty mug down on his bedside table. 

“Yeah,” Dani nodded, watching snow gently fall from out the window. 

Malcolm returned to her side and nestled back under the blankets, blissfully calm. Yawning softly, his eyes fluttered closed.

Dani watched him closely. “Do you want to sleep? I can leave now if you’d like me to.”

Malcolm felt the comforting weight of her on the bed leave his side. He opened his eyes and looked back up at her. He reached out a hand to stop her from moving any more. “Stay?”

Dani seemed surprised. “Oh, uh, sure. I just thought, you know…” she trailed off.

“I know,” Malcolm finished for her, “but I trust you.” 

A dusting of warmth rose to Dani’s cheeks. She smiled softly, shifting back down under the blanket to be closer to him, mindful of the slack leather strap that crossed the bed under her and connected to Malcolm’s sleep restraint. He turned to face her, his sleepy pale eyes sliding closed.

No nightmares came. Instead, there was only the cool touch of snowflakes, a feeling reminiscent of warm chocolate, and a dark haired, ice pirouette, sugar plum fairy perfect Dani Powell spinning her way through his mind. 

Malcolm slept peacefully that night. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever posted fic, I hope you enjoyed it!


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